Chapter 5

Tom sighed as he read through his reports. They were all generally the same; confusion and mayhem everywhere, a sudden hit of poverty in Muggle and magical England alike and cracks in the ministry's defence. He wondered why he had bothered to clean the reports of the ink from his new cat's escapades in the morning. He turned to glare at said cat, who was now sleeping peacefully in a shaft of sunlight on his desk.

He sighed, and turned back to his reports, before sighing, and tossing the lot onto the bin, before standing up. He decided to go for lunch, seeing as it was noon. He sighed, and turned back to the cat on his desk, before picking her up. She would need to be fed as well.

He walked down to the kitchen, holding the squirming cat tightly. He stepped into the bustling kitchen, chuckling in amusement, as his presence caused his three elves to have a near heart attack.

"Is the master needing something?" squeaked Tipsy, bowing low.

"I have come for lunch," said Tom commandingly, "Make sure you also provide food for the cat,"

"Master has a new cat?" asked Topsy, peeking around the bench.

"Yes," said Tom, sitting down at the table. It wasn't long before a large steak and salad popped before him, with a small silver bowl of tuna.

"What would the master like to drink?" asked Tapsy, standing at Tom's elbow.

"Pumpkin Juice," said Tom, "Like I always do,"

"Master should change his order," muttered Tapsy, wandering off to get his drink, "Master shouldn't run the risk of patterns,"

Tom ignored the elf. He'd had the three elves since he'd been twenty, and they were the only ones allowed to speak to him thus, other than Nagini.

He set the cat on the table, and watched as it looked around for a moment, before spotting the bowl.

Esmeralda was annoyed. She's been having a nice nap before she had been rudely awakened by a pair of hands picking her up. Now she was standing on the table. She spotted a small silver bowl, and she walked towards it, sniffing warily. She discovered it to be tuna, and immediately turned away from it.

"Typical," she sniffed, turning to find a large steak sitting in front of Tom, "He takes the good stuff for himself,"

She stalked over to him, and sat down pointedly in front of him.

"What do you want, kitten?" he sighed. She gave the steak a look, and then turned back to him.

"Oh no, you are not having my steak," he said firmly, "You have tuna,"

He levitated the bowl of fish in front of Esmeralda, but she turned away from it, looking once more at the steak. With a growl of frustration, he scooped some of the tuna out with his hand, and held it out to her.

"Hah," she sniggered internally, "Not so high and mighty are you, feeding a cat,"

She sniffed the tuna, and took just a little bit. He growled and held his hand out again. This time she completely ignored it, and stared at the steak.

"You bloody cat!" he growled, "No wonder you're malnourished, if you don't eat what's given to you,"

She wondered if he was going to send her away. She watched as he cut a small piece of the steak, and then placed it on the table in front of her. She looked at it and waited. She wanted to see if he was going to feed her by hand. He growled again, and picked it up and held it to her. Esmeralda sniffed it, just for show, and ate it. It was absolutely divine.

Tom glared at the cat as he cut a second piece of steak. He held it out to her, and she ate it immediately. A thought occurred to him, and he vanished all the tuna in the small bowl he had given her, before putting the cut up pieces of steak in there. He placed the bowl in front of her.

She sniffed it delicately, before nudging the bowl towards him.

"You bloody spoiled cat!" he growled, but he none-the-less took a piece and fed her. She had obviously been spoilt by her last owner, before they had gotten rid of her. Finally, they finished the steak that was in the bowl, and she sat, purring happily.

He glared at her, and called Topsy.

"Master called?" asked Topsy.

"Get me another steak," he said, "That cat ate my other one,"

"Yes master," to his credit, Topsy managed not to ask how the cat got the steak. Tom turned back to find the cat drinking pumpkin juice from his goblet, and called Tapsy.

"Master?" asked Tapsy.

"Get me another pumpkin juice," said Tom tiredly, gesturing to the cat.

Tapsy nodded, and snapped her fingers, another goblet appearing on the table.

Tom sighed and ate his meal, sending glares to the cat, which was curled up in a ball, and had gone to sleep again, purring happily.

Esmeralda looked over the room happily. It had been a week since the Dark Lord had taken her in, and she was rather enjoying her new life. Of course, she had been on her best behaviour. It wouldn't do to be kicked out of the place, especially after Hogwarts had sent her here specifically.

'well my dear, how are you holding up?' came the voice of the castle

"How are you here?" asked Esmeralda "I'm not in the castle,"

"I have magic my dear," said the castle, "Now, how are you doing?"

"Very well," said Esmeralda, purring slightly, "This place is great. Ignore the fact that my 'owner' is a dark lord, and everything is perfect. In fact, I'm not sure if I want to change back,"

"Lovely dear," said the castle, "You know I do have a plan for all of this,"

"All of what?"

"The war, and you and Tom. If you let me, I'll continue,"

"What will that mean?" asked Esmeralda suspiciously.

"It'll mean you staying with Tom dear for a while longer, as a cat, and you getting to know him better," said the castle good naturedly, "But that will mean that you stay a cat for a lot longer, and I will be adding to you,"

"How do you mean?" asked Esmeralda

"I'll be opening a connection between you and Tom. It'll add spice to your life," giggled the castle.

"Yay," said Esmeralda sarcastically, "What do I disagree with?"

"I'll leave you alone, and Tom will figure out who you are in a few days with some help from me," said the castle calmly.

Esmeralda thought about it for a bit.

"Will it help the war?" she asked.

"It will put a stop to it, if all things go well," said the castle.

"Fine," said Esmeralda.

She felt a burst of magic, before she passed out